TY - JOUR

T1 - Understanding Students' Experiments-What kind of support do they need in inquiry tasks?

AU - Arnold, J.C.

AU - Kremer, K.

AU - Mayer, Jürgen

N1 - Copyright: Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Inquiry learning is a widely recognized method for fostering inquiry competence in science education. Nevertheless, there is discussion about how to best support students while working on inquiry tasks (in this case: experiments on causal relationships). To identify the kind of support students need in order to design experiments in upper grades, an empirical study consisting of two parts was conducted. The first part, a quantitative test (N = 96), tested students' competences in designing an experiment. It was found that students need scaffolding in basic aspects of designing (like dependent and independent variables), to reach higher levels, since only about thirty percent reach levels II or III out of three levels. On more reflective aspects (like confounding variables, test times and repetitions), only a maximum of twenty-five percent reached level I or higher; therefore, even more support is needed on these aspects. The second part of the study was a qualitative video-analysis of students' discussions, designs and implementations of an experiment. It was found that support is needed on procedural knowledge and understanding. Possible implications for inquiry support are discussed.

AB - Inquiry learning is a widely recognized method for fostering inquiry competence in science education. Nevertheless, there is discussion about how to best support students while working on inquiry tasks (in this case: experiments on causal relationships). To identify the kind of support students need in order to design experiments in upper grades, an empirical study consisting of two parts was conducted. The first part, a quantitative test (N = 96), tested students' competences in designing an experiment. It was found that students need scaffolding in basic aspects of designing (like dependent and independent variables), to reach higher levels, since only about thirty percent reach levels II or III out of three levels. On more reflective aspects (like confounding variables, test times and repetitions), only a maximum of twenty-five percent reached level I or higher; therefore, even more support is needed on these aspects. The second part of the study was a qualitative video-analysis of students' discussions, designs and implementations of an experiment. It was found that support is needed on procedural knowledge and understanding. Possible implications for inquiry support are discussed.

KW - Experiment

KW - Fair test

KW - Inquiry

KW - Procedural knowledge

KW - Procedural understanding

KW - Support

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84906055788&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/09500693.2014.930209

DO - 10.1080/09500693.2014.930209

M3 - Article

VL - 36

SP - 2719

EP - 2749

JO - International Journal of Science Education

JF - International Journal of Science Education

SN - 0950-0693

IS - 16

ER -